TH-30-10-556-EN-Nland useland cover changesnitrous oxideforest creationagricultureforest managementintensive farmingwater framework directiveland covergmeswetlandsthematic assessmentsforestrycapfarmland abandonmentafforestationsemi-natural habitatsmethaneurbanisationcorine land coversoer2010FalseurbanlanduseLand use shapes our environment in positive and negative ways. Productive land is a critical
resource for food and biomass production and land use strongly influences soil erosion and soil
functions such as carbon storage. Land management largely determines the beauty of Europe's
landscapes. It is important therefore to monitor land cover and land-use change through tools
such as Corine land cover. Data on land-cover change in Europe from 2000–2006 show that
growth in built-up areas and forest land leads to a continued loss of agricultural land. In turn,
global economic and environmental change will increasingly influence the way Europeans use
land (e.g. as communities work to mitigate and adapt to climate change). Policy responses are
needed to help resolve conflicting land-use demands and to guide land-use intensity to support
environmental land management.OFS.interfaces.ICopyContainerProducts.CMFCore.interfaces._content.IOpaqueItemManagerAcquisition.interfaces.IAcquirerarchetypes.schemaextender.interfaces.IExtensibleAccessControl.interfaces.IOwnedwebdav.interfaces.IDAVResourceeea.promotion.interfaces.IPromotableeea.progressbar.interfaces.IBaseObjectplone.portlets.interfaces.ILocalPortletAssignablecollective.quickupload.interfaces.IQuickUploadCapableApp.interfaces.IUndoSupportOFS.interfaces.IFolderOFS.interfaces.IObjectManagereea.uberlisting.browser.app.interfaces.IPossibleUberlistingViewProducts.CMFCore.interfaces._content.IDynamicTypeProducts.ATContentTypes.interfaces.folder.IATBTreeFolderProducts.CMFCore.interfaces._content.IWorkflowAwarewebdav.EtagSupport.EtagBaseInterfaceeea.annotator.subtypes.interfaces.IAnnotatorAwareplone.app.imaging.interfaces.IBaseObjectApp.interfaces.IPersistentExtraProducts.CMFCore.interfaces._content.ICatalogAwareeea.facetednavigation.subtypes.interfaces.IPossibleFacetedNavigableProducts.NavigationManager.sections.interfaces.INavigationSectionPositionableeea.reports.interfaces.IPossibleReportContainerOFS.interfaces.ICopySourcezope.annotation.interfaces.IAttributeAnnotatableOFS.interfaces.ITraversableProducts.CMFCore.interfaces._content.IFolderishOFS.interfaces.IPropertyManagerplone.folder.interfaces.IOrderableFolderProducts.Archetypes.interfaces.metadata.IExtensibleMetadataeea.faceted.inheritance.subtypes.interfaces.IPossibleFacetedHeritoreea.themecentre.interfaces.IPossibleThemeCentreeea.relations.content.interfaces.IBaseObjectOFS.interfaces.IItemProducts.CMFDynamicViewFTI.interfaces.ISelectableBrowserDefaulteea.themecentre.interfaces.IThemeTaggableOFS.interfaces.IOrderedContainereea.pdf.subtypes.interfaces.ICollectionPDFAwareProducts.ATContentTypes.interfaces.interfaces.IATContentTypeeea.geotags.storage.interfaces.IGeoTaggableProducts.Archetypes.interfaces.referenceable.IReferenceableeea.versions.interfaces.IVersionEnhancedpersistent.interfaces.IPersistentplone.app.folder.folder.IATUnifiedFoldereea.cache.subtypes.interfaces.ICacheAwareApp.interfaces.INavigationProducts.LinguaPlone.interfaces.ITranslatableAccessControl.interfaces.IPermissionMappingSupportProducts.Archetypes.interfaces.base.IBaseFolderplone.uuid.interfaces.IUUIDAwarewebdav.interfaces.IDAVCollectionProducts.CMFCore.interfaces._content.IMutableMinimalDublinCoreplone.locking.interfaces.ITTWLockableProducts.CMFCore.interfaces._content.IContentishAccessControl.interfaces.IRoleManagereea.epub.subtypes.interfaces.IEPUBAwarewebdav.interfaces.IWriteLockplone.app.iterate.interfaces.IIterateAwareeea.alchemy.interfaces.IAlchemyDiscoverableeea.pdf.subtypes.interfaces.IPDFAwareeea.reports.interfaces.IReportContainerEnhancedProducts.Archetypes.interfaces.base.IBaseObjectProducts.EEAContentTypes.interfaces.IEEAPossibleContentplone.contentrules.engine.interfaces.IRuleAssignableOFS.interfaces.IFindSupportProducts.CMFPlone.interfaces.constrains.ISelectableConstrainTypes2010-11-25T16:20:24ZEEA (European Environment Agency)jaeglmar978-92-9213-160-90land-use Land use — SOER 2010 thematic assessment Land use shapes our environment in positive and negative ways. Productive land is a critical
resource for food and biomass production and land use strongly influences soil erosion and soil
functions such as carbon storage. Land management largely determines the beauty of Europe's
landscapes. It is important therefore to monitor land cover and land-use change through tools
such as Corine land cover. Data on land-cover change in Europe from 2000–2006 show that
growth in built-up areas and forest land leads to a continued loss of agricultural land. In turn,
global economic and environmental change will increasingly influence the way Europeans use
land (e.g. as communities work to mitigate and adapt to climate change). Policy responses are
needed to help resolve conflicting land-use demands and to guide land-use intensity to support
environmental land management. forest creation soer2010 forestry afforestation urbanisation land cover land use cap land cover changes wetlands semi-natural habitats gmes forest management water framework directive nitrous oxide farmland abandonment intensive farming thematic assessments agriculture corine land cover methane 1002010-10-26T12:42:23Z0False2011 3.0.2False<ul><li><a title="Key facts" class="internal-link" href="resolveuid/fdba444688d9dd276f0df79983612731">Key facts</a></li><li><a title="Key messages" class="internal-link" href="resolveuid/072ee0f2762a50a8048d3fc4edf6b5b8">Key messages</a></li></ul>
<h2>Land-cover change in Europe</h2>
<p>EEA
analysis of land-cover change across 36 European countries shows a
change in land-cover type for 1.3&nbsp;% of the total land stock (68 353 km<sup>2</sup> of 5.42 million km<sup>2</sup>)
from 2000–2006. The annual rate of these changes has slowed compared to
the period 1990–2000. However, land-use specialisation (urbanisation,
agricultural intensification and abandonment plus natural afforestation)
is still a very strong trend and is expected to continue in the future,
depending on many interacting drivers.</p>
<p>While
the overall land-change rate has slowed since the 1990s, there were
considerable differences between countries: the highest density of
land-cover change took place in Portugal, Cyprus, Hungary, the Czech
Republic and Ireland, but also in Finland and Sweden (forest
conversions) and Spain (agricultural transitions). There were also
differences between land-use categories. Artificial surfaces increased
most in terms of percentage change from 2000 to 2006 (3.4&nbsp;%), but this
masked a deceleration in conversions for residential purposes and an
increase in conversions for the purposes of economic sites and
infrastructures. The formation of new artificial surfaces was greater
than the formation of new agricultural land.</p>
<p>Forest
creation and management was the largest land‑cover change in absolute
terms, due mainly to internal conversions (i.e. forest felling and
regeneration) in the boundaries of forest areas. However, total forest
area increased only slightly (by 0.1&nbsp;%). Arable land and permanent crops
decreased by 0.2&nbsp;% and pastures and mosaics by 0.3&nbsp;%. Semi-natural
vegetation, open spaces and wetlands continued the downward trend
observed from 1990–2000. Water surfaces increased due to new artificial
lakes and reservoirs taking more land than the consumption of water
bodies by other economic activities.</p>
<h2>Environmental impacts of land-use change</h2>
<p>The
way land is used affects human health and wellbeing. Land use has
impacts on climate, biodiversity and ecosystem services. It can also
cause degradation and pollution of water, soil and air. Although the
land change rate in Europe has slowed since the 1990s, biodiversity‑rich
natural and semi-natural areas continue to decline, partly through
intensification in agriculture but mostly through conversion to forest.
Land-use/land-cover change similarly plays a major role in climate
change at the global, regional and local scales, by increasing the
release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere when soils and natural
vegetation are disturbed. Changes in land use and land cover are also
behind major changes in terrestrial emissions of other greenhouse gases,
especially methane (through altered surface hydrology and elimination
of forest cover) and nitrous oxide (through agriculture).</p>
<h2>Responses</h2>
<p>Policy
decisions that shape land‑use involve trade-offs between many sectoral
interests, including industry, transport, energy, mining, agriculture
and forestry. In particular, agriculture and forestry represent the
largest share of land use by economic sectors. These trade‑offs can be
tackled through integrated programmes for land use and territorial
planning, sectoral policies as well as targeted policy instruments, such
as protected area networks. Integrated programmes include the EU
objective for Territorial Cohesion and the Water Framework Directive.
Future directions of the EU&nbsp;Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and
implementation of renewable energy targets will have a significant
impact on forest and agricultural land use and its intensity. The role
of green infrastructure and site protection under Natura 2000 as well as
the re-use of land are also important aspects of land resource
management. In addition, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) are the important tools for
evaluating programmes and projects that have impacts on land resources.</p>
<p>The
essential source of European land monitoring data is the Corine land
cover inventory, carried out in 1990, 2000 and most recently in 2006. In
combination with land statistics, the Global Monitoring for Environment
and Security Initiative (GMES) will strengthen the European capacity
for earth observation and facilitate more frequent analysis of land-use
changes in Europe as a basis for future policymaking.</p>40.0False2016-06-03T02:05:55ZN/A - 0 - 2010 -Land use — SOER 2010 thematic assessmentQRTZ0G69EOland-useEEA (European Environment Agency)(c) Copyrights - EEA (European Environment Agency)